NEW YORK: Top seed Jannik Sinner beat American Alex Michelsen 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 on Thursday to reach the third round of the US Open where the Italian’s doping case remains a focus even though he was cleared of wrongdoing.

Sinner converted eight of his 16 break-point chances en route to dispatching Michelsen in 99 minutes on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

In the early goings Michelsen proved up for the challenge as he twice came back from a break down in the first set, but when Sinner broke a third time for a 5-4 lead he promptly closed out the tighly-contested frame on serve.

Sinner found another gear in the second set and had a much easier time as he raced out to a 3-0 double-break lead to seize control and never looked back as Michelsen’s serve suddenly abandoned him.

Michelsen made an encouraging start to the third set but Sinner remained all business and continued applying pressure, eventually earning the decisive break for a 3-2 lead and going on to serve out the match with a routine hold.

Sinner will next play Australian wild card Christopher O’Connell as he aims to stay on course for a semi-final showdown with Carlos Alcaraz, the 2022 US Open champion who won both the French Open and Wimbledon this year.

O’Connell advanced with a 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Italian qualifier Mattia Bellucci.

“Very happy,” said Sinner, who beat Michelsen in the second round of the Cincinnati Masters this month. “He’s a very tough opponent. We played each other in Cincinnati a week ago. I knew what to expect, he knew what to expect a little.”

Sinner went on to claim his fifth title of the season in Cincinnati.

A day later it was revealed that Sinner had escaped a ban despite twice testing positive for an anabolic agent in March, authorities accepting his explanation that the result was the result of inadvertent contamination.

On the women’s side, former world number one and 2016 runner-up Karolina Pliskova suffered an ankle injury and was forced to quit her second-round match after just three points on Thursday.

The Czech turned her left ankle and was unable to continue with her fifth-seeded opponent Jasmine Paolini declared the winner with the score at 0-0. The match on Louis Armstrong Stadium officially lasted just six minutes.

Paolini will face Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan for a place in the last 16.

On Wednesday, steamy conditions tested players’ resolve but defending champions Novak Djokovic and Coco Gauff both advanced to the third round while Aryna Sabalenka marked her win by taking photographs with a mini version of herself.

Sweat-soaked 24-times Grand Slam champion Djokovic looked far from comfortable under the lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium and had to battle from 2-4 in the second set before seeing off fellow Serb Laslo Djere, who retired injured at 6-4, 6-4, 2-0.

The Serbian superstar, coming off an emotional Paris Olympics triumph, next faces Australian Alexei Popyrin, who he beat at the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year.

German fourth seed Alexander Zverev wasted little time in blazing conditions earlier in the day as he dispatched Frenchman Alexandre Muller 6-4, 7-6 (7/5), 6-1 on Louis Armstrong Stadium.

Zverev next faces Argentina’s Tomas Etcheverry, who vomited on court amid the stifling conditions during his 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 victory over compatriot Francisco Cerundolo.

Sixth-seeded Russian Andrey Rublev and Czech Jiri Lehecka both battled through five sets to line up a third-round meeting.

Rublev, a four-time US Open quarter-finalist, beat France’s Arthur Rinde­rknech 4-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 while Lehecka out-lasted American Mitchell Krueger 6-7 (5/7), 0-6, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5.

Eighth seed Casper Ruud was dragged into a fight by tenacious Frenchman in Gael Monfils. That evening match on Grandstand was suspended midway due to a lightning warning with supporters asked to leave for their own safety before Ruud later completed a 6-4, 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (7/3) win.

Taylor Fritz kept the flag flying for the American men as he eased past Matteo Berrettini 6-3, 7-6 (7/1), 6-1 after Frances Tiafoe advanced when an ailing Alexander Shevchenko retired and Ben Shelton beat Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

Women’s defending champion Coco Gauff overcame her early mistakes and struggles on serve to beat 37-year-old Tatjana Maria 6-4, 6-0.

Australian Open champion Sabalenka, runner-up to Gauff last year, polished off Italian Lucia Bronzetti 6-3, 6-1 in an hour and celebrated the win by taking pictures with a young fan outfitted in similar gear to the second seed.

American Madison Keys, the 2017 runner-up, cruised past Australian qualifier Maya Joint 6-4, 6-0 at Arthur Ashe Stadium while three-time runner-up Victoria Azarenka battled through a migraine to beat Clara Burel 6-1, 6-4.

Zheng Qinwen of China was given an early headache by Russian 20-year-old Erika Andreeva before the Olympic champion prevailed 6-7 (3/7), 6-1, 6-2 after a 10-minute heat break midway.

But eighth-seeded Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova became the biggest upset victim of the tournament so far, bounced 6-4, 7-5 by Romanian qualifier Elena-Gabriela Ruse.

Published in Dawn, August 30th, 2024